Thursday, January 26, 2012

Veggies for last week: avacado, asparagus, cauliflower, spinich, leeks, red peppers
I cooked up a family pack of chicken breast to use throughout the week, so it's all chicken this week

Monday, I made a quesadilla. I had sundried tomato wraps, cooked chicken, cheese, salsa, frozen spinich. Put together, and voila, dinner. It was pretty good and filling. I was surprised.

Tuesday, was big salad night. M even ate the leeks and red peppers and didn't complain about them. Yet more food off his list of things he doesn't like. I used the avacado to try to make a salad dressing out of it with Greek yogurt. I was not a fan. M liked it. So, not a total loss, but not a huge success either.

Wednesday, I tried to make a cauliflower mash to go with the chicken. I used a 2/3 block of cheddar, 1/4 cup parmasean and still we were not fans of the cauliflower. So, with all that cheese not making a bit of difference, cauliflower is on the list of Not Going to Touch It veggies. I had some tomatoes instead and M opted for peas. At least we still ate veggies.

Thursday, spinich and tomato grilled cheese.

Friday was a success. I was just trying to use up stuff. The last of the chicken, a couple open boxes of pasta, a red pepper, half a leek. Surprisingly, cook the pasta, heat the rest of the stuff in a pan with some garlic and oil, and it was mighty tasty. It even was said to be a make again meal. Woot! I also made parmasean roasted asparagus. I thought it was edible, but not much more. AJ was not a fan at all, and M thought it was great. So, I guess asparagus will go back on our grocery list again at some point.

I was so surprised I actually made, and ate, so many veggies and actual dinners last week. It was nice to get back to cooking and creating in the kitchen again.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

C has rolled over, belly to back, three times. She's only 3 weeks old, that should not be happening! Granted, they were just a result of frustration on her part and no actual control over her movements, but it just means she's way too strong. Okay, edit that: she just rolled over again while I was typing this, and she was not fussing at all. Yikes!!!

Her 3 week appointment was yesterday. She weighed in at 8 pounds 3 ounces, 21.25 inches. She's measuring 50% for weight and head size, 75% for length. I can't believe she still isn't at AJ's birth weight, but she'll be holding her own with her strength alone.

She also has an umbilical hernia. Common I know, my nephew had one. Her pedi said it was on the larger size, so it may not heal by itself, but they won't do anything to fix it until she's 5-6 years old, so no rush in that department. She's on 3 ounces of formula and will sometimes eat more if she's just slept for a while. Porker.

On to AJ. I realized I never marked down any of her great words/phrases. She makes me laugh all the time and I know I'll forget her great words soon. So here are some of her gems:

I got bizzy = I got dizzy, but she refuses to say the word with the d, so, yeah, she's a charmer at parties.

Juice couch = Capri Sun juice pouch. I love the look on people's faces when she asks for that one

Bunny Chocolate = chocolate milk (hot bunny chocolate = hot cocoa). However she has no idea whether we actually put the chocolate into her milk, so it works out great for us. She won't ask for milk, just bunny chocolate.

My Pink Baby = C. She loves her sister, good thing we didn't have a boy. I'm not sure if he'd like being the pink baby.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Two weeks ago I was in the hospital, watching a Top Chef marathon, waiting for the OB to come and break my water to get things going.

Today, AJ has school. I love that girl, but she was awake and wanting to play at 3AM, I was never so happy to pay for someone else to watch my child than this morning. I am loving spending some one-on-one time with the little. She's so alert and is really trying to focus on my face when I talk to her. Best of all though, when it's time to sleep, she does! That is the most amazing part. I relish every nap and never expect her to do it again. I don't want to jinx us, but it has been heaven to have a newborn that doesn't fight sleep.

As of this morning I'm 7 pounds from pre-pregnancy weight and spent a part of the morning packing up my maternity clothes to send off to Goodwill this weekend. My unofficial, and clothed, weigh-in of C showed 8lbs 8oz (AJ's birth weight). It's amazing to think that after two weeks, she's still smaller than her sister. AJ was our "Tank", C is our "Pipsqueek".

She is super strong though. She even rolled over already. It was a total fluke, just one of those things where she was mad enough and sort of threw her body which just happened to flip over. I can't believe she is strong enough to do that though. She'll be able to take on her sister in no time.

Monday, January 9, 2012

After I had AJ, I lost 30 pounds, which still left me 10 pounds higher than I was before getting pregnant. Those 10 pounds stuck around mainly because I never did anything to get rid of it. I accepted those 10 as not an issue. I just figured I was going to gain more the next time I got pregnant, so why bother to fight against that last bit of gain.

Now that I've had C, I lost 25 of the 35 pounds I gained in that pregnancy. So, I am now 20 pounds heavier than I was before any kids. Since we are pretty sure we're now done with having kids, I have no more excuses (not that the one I was using was a good one).

M and I discussed how we really need to eat better, (read: make actual dinners with veggies and not ask AJ what she wants and have nuggets or hot dogs every night). We made a list of veggies we like (a very short list), veggies we're willing to try, and veggies we will not touch no matter how much cheese sauce is on top. Sadly, to create this list we had to open up a list online of vegetables. After thinking of green beans and peas, we were at a loss of what other veggies there are. So sad, I know.

Over the weekend I spent a half hour in the produce department of our grocery store. I had to stick near my cart or I'd never figure out which one was mine. My cart usually has a bag of apples and a bag of potatoes, then I'm done with the produce department. After consulting our list of vegetables, I decide to pick a few off the "try" list and then bulk up on stuff for salads, which I know we'll eat without a big issue.

I got a head of cauliflower, an avacado, and asparagus. I'm not sure exactly what I'll be doing with each of these, but it was a good start. Hopefully we can get everyone in the house eating a bit better. Since I'm home for at least the next five weeks, I have no excuse to not make a real dinner every night we're all home.

Next step will be exercising. I picked up a pedometer/heart rate/stop watch thing since it was much cheaper than a gym membership. I'm really hoping to make the Couch to 5K work. I am anticipating the 20-30 minutes alone will be a good mental break as well as the physical benefits. Thankfully, so far this winter has been almost non-existent, so going out to run along the streets in the neighborhood won't be hindered by the snow, unless I just jinxed myself.

Thursday, January 5, 2012

I'm not sure what was up with M last night, but if I didn't know better, I'd swear he had never been the parent of a newborn before. AJ wanted to play with me, so since M was just texting on his phone, I gave C to him and went to chase AJ around the house (one of her favorite games). Well, C was on his lap, squawking, putting fists in her mouth, shaking her head all around, and M was still texting. On one pass through the living room in chase of AJ, I ask M if he plans on feeding C anytime soon.

He grabs the rest of an older bottle out of the fridge (about an ounce and a half) and makes another bottle (about two ounces). I hold my tongue and just let him do his thing. I figured he was maybe just planning on having back up incase the first bottle wasn't quite enough.

When he starts trying to feed her, his phone rings. He can't figure out how to hold the bottle and C and talk on his phone, so he hands off C. How does he think I'm going to spend the days with two kids, a dog and basic house chores?

AJ and I are now playing Don't Break the Ice and I hear M yell out in frustration. C had spit up, quite a bit actually, all over herself and M. I go to check if he needs help and notice both bottles are empty. It had only been maybe 10 minutes since he started feeding her. I no longer want to help. Seriously?! I have to ask "what did you think would happen when you're trying to put nearly four ounces of liquid in a belly that is at most two ounces big?" His response "I burped her like three times". Um... ok.

He gets up, takes C to get changed. We do the changes on our bed and just put a hospital chuck down first, since we don't have a changing station. While I'm playing with AJ I see him pull the blanket off our bed, throw it on the floor, finish changing C and then wraps himself up in the Moby. This gets me chuckling, but I try not to let him see. He brings C down to the basement with him to wash the blanket. When he comes up he tells me that C missed the chuck.

The whole evening was a comedy of errors for him. I had to explain what feeding cues look like and not to recline her while eating or for a good long time after eating. He was always right there helping and being a part of AJ's early life, I think it's hilarious that he seems to have forgotten entirely how to care for a baby.

Oh, and just because I'm so happy about it, six days post birth and I'm able to squeeze into my pre pregnancy pants. WooHoo!!!

Monday, January 2, 2012

So our breastfeeding journy has ended. I know it went pretty quick. I never thought I'd give up after just five days. But apparently there were a lot of things about breastfeeding that I never thought about.

I knew it would be difficult. I knew all the feedings would be on me. I knew I ran the risk of the pain of latch problems, clogged ducts, mastitis. I knew I'd be dealing with the stress of how much she's eating, how much to pump, when to pump, etc. Basically, what I knew was that it would be tough, but it would mainly be tough on me. I would be the one to go through this, and I was okay with that.

Here's what I didn't know. I didn't know how hard it would be to get what the LC called a picture perfect latch to become actual feeding. I didn't know how to make a baby just close her mouth and suck. I didn't know how much time and effort it would take to try to get milk to come in. I didn't know I would have to spend days with a baby on my bare skin, eating all the prefered lacto inducing foods, and still not have any milk to show for it. I didn't know I'd ignore AJ for days just to try to get C to eat anything at all. I didn't know I'd resent M for having the free time to play with AJ. I didn't know I could pump and pump and pump and only have one tenth of an ounce to show for it. I didn't know I would end up basically starving my baby because my body just didn't want to work the way I thought it would.

Last night, after my crying, C's crying and M just looking lost, we broke out the bottles. C took one and she ate. She gulped that thing down so fast, I had to keep taking it out so she could breathe and swallow. She was starved. Once she ate, she slept. She slept more soundly than I had ever seen her. And she had a nice wet diaper after. She was finally content. This morning, I attempted the breast routine again, one last time. I did the sugar water again, but she wasn't having any of it. I decided in a last effort before giving up, I'd go to a breastfeeding support group that was held today. What I saw was 20 very supportive and friendly women, all having issues with breastfeeding. Their babies were at all ages, and every one of them was having an issue. At that point, I felt okay in the decision to stop forcing it.

So, we all went to lunch as a family and enjoyed ourselves for the first time in days. I played with AJ while M fed C. It was such a weight off my shoulders.

Then, tonight, it started. I do believe my milk is finally making it's appearance. Now that we came to the acceptance of formula, I get that choice back. However the choice now is to pump only and keep with the bottle, or try to re-teach C to take to the breast. After much discussion, M and I decide it's just not worth the stress. AJ was formula fed, we are used to it and we just don't want to bring this back into the mix again. I was so torn all day. I cried more than I have in a long time. Then, I got a sign that we made the right choice for us. C pooped for the first time since late Friday night!

Welcome!

This is the world of me and my family. Random ramblings of whatever is going on in my life at the time I think to put it into text. You're on the edge of your seat in anticipation of what's to come next, I can tell.